NEWS / Links:

Nanga Parbat and the incredible, tragic terrorist attack

The shock and pain continues regarding the terrorist attack and massacre of alpinists that took place on the night between Saturday and Sunday at the Diamir Base Camp on Nanga Parbat (Karakoram, Pakistan). The list of 11 victims has not yet been made official.

While more than two days have passed since the Nanga Parbat terrorist attack, the names of the victims has not yet been made official and the mountaineering community remains shocked, pained and in disbelief at the events which resulted in 11 dead. These include 10 alpinists from various countries and a Pakistani cook. According to numerous different press reports, it now seems certain that the murdered alpinists are 3 from the Ukraine, 1 from Lithuania, 2 from Slovakia, 2 from China, 1 Chinese - American and 1 cook from Pakistan. According to reports, another Chinese alpinist managed to flee from the terrorists.

As stated the identities of the victims has not yet been made official, although altitudepakistan.blogspot.it, quoted also by exploresweb.com, cites sources of various different expeditions engaged on the mountain and has published the names of all the victims except for the Pakistani cook. What does seem certain however is that all surviving alpinists have been evacuated from the area.

In the meantime the Romanian expedition continues on Rupal Face on the opposite side of Nanga Parbat. According to explorersweb.com the expedition has reached 6.600m via the Schell route. At present it is unclear what the Pakistani authorities will decide to do and whether all climbing will be prohibited.

Many have underlined that what has taken place is completely "new", absolutely unthinkable and unpredictable. This is the first time that mountaineers have been targeted and, to make things worse, in an area considered relatively "safe". Add to this the fact that the preliminary reconstruction mentions a terrible, true "execution", then it becomes clear that this is of utmost concern.

At present Pakistan's military and police have mounted a vast manhunt in the Gilgit – Baltisan region to capture those responsible for the attack, for which the Jundallah terrorist group has already claimed responsibility. As previously stated, this act was strongly condemned by Pakistan's government and its political opposition. Bearing this in mind, it is worth underling that Tariq Masood Malik wrote in The Express Tribune Blogs "Our leaders must come forward and tell the nation the truth and treat this terrorism as acts of war."